Post-primaries, NYC Election Will Focus on Inequality, Social Reforms

Sept. 11, 2013— -- Somehow, amidst party crashers and fallen candidates flipping off cameras, votes were (mostly) counted in the New York City primary race last night, and the city more or less has its candidates for this year’s Nov. 5th election. But while everyone else is analyzing what demographics voted for which candidate, let’s take a look at what issues these campaigns will focus on through election day... and what impact they have on the city beyond the election.

The Mayoral Race

The mayoral race now stands between Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio (That's given that the official count or a recount doesn’t put his vote under 40 percent, which would call for an October runoff election. The final numbers won’t be announced for a week.) and Republican Joe Lhota. And while Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city 6 to 1, the city has not voted for a Democratic mayor since 1989, when David Dinkins took office. Whether that changes in November will largely depend on debates about inequality and "stop and frisk."

Brooklyn candidate de Blasio went from "That Dude Who’s Also Running" to frontrunner on arguably the most socially aggressive platform, a platform that most directly opposes the historical precedent of New York City Republican mayors.

De Blasio calls for reforms in income inequality, education and affordable housing. His platform includes an income tax on New Yorkers making more than $500,000 per year, which would be used to fund universal pre-K education and after-school middle school programs.

Most important, de Blasio calls for the end to "stop and frisk," the controversial NYPD practice in which police officers question and frisk pedestrians, the vast majority of which are Hispanic and African American, often without reasonable criminal suspicion. Throughout his campaign, de Blasio has repeatedly called for an end to the practice, a position that resonated emotionally for many voters and which arguably contributed to the candidate’s win last night.

In his victory speech, de Blasio emphasized that "stop and frisk" and inequality would continue to be a major issue through November. Referencing a speech he gave in January, de Blasio spoke about “a New York where nearly half our citizens live at or near the poverty line, where luxury condos had replaced community hospitals, where proactive policing had somehow slipped into racial profiling.”

In stark contrast, the former director of the MTA represents a carryover of the Giuliani administration (he served as deputy mayor for the former Mayor) and 20 years of Republican mayors in the city that stand for business investment and a strong police force. In his victory speech last night, Lhota defined how he differs from de Blasio’s views on inequality in the city, and what a crucial role that conversation will play through November.

“I hear an awful lot coming from the other side about the 'tale of two cities' and how they want to wear down the progress that’s happened over the last twenty year,” Lhota said. “This ‘tale’ is nothing more than class warfare. An attempt to divide the city."

Comptroller

While, thus far, the comptroller election has been the "Not Spitzer" race, the November election for comptroller, who will manage accounting and financial reporting in the city, is now down to Democratic candidate Scott Stringer and the Republican John Burnett in what appears to be a conversation about economic theory.

Stringer advocates for the use of city investments to reduce city inequality. In an August debate, Stringer advocated for a new position in the comptroller department, a chief diversity officer, who would be responsible for allocating city funds to minority-owned companies. The plan is an effort to get minority business owners the capital investments they need to open companies and create jobs, and is important because obtaining venture capital is a major issue blocking minorities from starting their own businesses.

On the other hand, GOP candidate John Burnett, with 25 years of experience on Wall Street, has come out in favor of more traditional investment and regulation. Given the attention recently on Spitzer, and a lack of party opposition, the 43-year-old African American candidate who lives in Harlem has said that he will invest city resources where it will benefit the city.

“If [say, green energy] is . . . earning at a comparable rate as other investments, sure I’ll support it,” Burnett said in a New York Post interview. “If it’s only yielding a small percentage, say 2 percent, and I need it to earn eight, my dollars aren’t going there. That would be a violation of my fiduciary responsibilities in favor of doing something nice and social.”

Public Advocate

An often-overlooked position that can nonetheless serve as a political jumping point (de Blasio, for instance, previously held the position), the public advocate Democratic primary was not settled last night and will now be settled in a runoff election on Oct. 1. Two Democratic candidates, Letita James and Daniel Squadron, failed to receive 40 percent of the vote, with James capturing 36 percent and Squadron earning 32 percent of city Democratic voters.

As a member of the Working Family Party, James is a proponent of affordable housing and education issues, believing in expanding affordable housing and not only making education available for everyone, but also giving parents a bigger say in the issue. On "stop and frisk," James has called for an end to the practice, and also supports legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes.

On the other side, former state senator Squadron, similar to de Blasio, is running on a platform weighted in inequality discussions, with particular focus on immigrant rights. He has called for an end to "stop and frisk" saying, “far too often, entire New York communities -- in particular young black and Latino men -- are made to feel like suspects targeted by law enforcement instead of citizens protected by it.”

As a state senator, Squadron also introduced a bill to decriminalize marijuana in small amounts in public view.

Whoever wins the runoff election will still have to face Green Party candidate James Lane, but is expected to beat him.